Evening star. [volume], November 14, 1943, Image 1

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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Weather Forecast
Pair ind somewhat colder Sunday
and Sunday night. Monday increasing
cloudiness with slowly rising temperatures.
Temperatures yesterday—Highest, 47,
at 3:45 p.m.; lowest, 37, at 11:00 p.m.
United States Weather Bureau Report.
The Evening and Sunday Star is
delivered in the city and suburbs at
80c per month when 4 Sundays; 90c
per month when 5 Sundays. The
Night Pinal Edition and Sunday
Morning Star at 90c when 4 Sun
days; $1.00 when 5 Sundays.
An Associated Press Newspaper.
So. 2,01o—No. 36,355.
WASHINGTON, D. C., NOVEMBER 14, 1943-110 PAGES. ***
ZEZZZ TEN CENTS ffSSiH
Reds Drive on Poland, 60 Miles
Away, After Capturing Zhitomir;
U. S. Bombers Hammer Bremen
Rail Center's Fall
Virtually Splits
Nazis in Ukraine
B? the Associated Press.
• LONDON, Sunday, Nov. 14.—
The Red Army virtually split the
Germans’ Ukraine forces yester
day by capturing the rail junc
tion of Zhitomir and sped on to
day toward the old Polish border
60 miles beyond.
Soviet forces smashed into the
city on the Leningrad-Odessa line
from the east, west and south and
It was conquered after a violent
night struggle.
Other units, Moscow said, were
converging on Korosten, a second
vital junction on the same line to
the north. One group took Cher
nyakhov, on the railway 13 miles
above Zhitomir and 33 miles south
of Korosten.
A third force that drove into
Malin was 27 miles east of Korosten.
Occupation of this town would force ]
the Germans to reroute all their!
north-south traffic through the
pripet marshes of prewar Poland.
iuu Towns uapiurea.
More than 100 towns fell in yes
terday's drive that bled the Germans
with “enormous losses in manpower
and equipment,” said the Moscow
midnight communique, recorded by
the Soviet monitor.
Another important Russian at
tack northeast of the Zhitomir- j
Korosten area was plunging ahead
through the marshes toward Rechit
sa, now but 15 miles away, to out
flank Gomel in White Russia.
Twelve heavily fortified German
strongpoints were taken and about
2.000 Germans were declared wiped
out in the bloody fighting. Large
numbers of prisoners were taken and
tanks, guns and stores destroyed or
captured by the Russians.
The fall of Zhitomir also gained
another important milestone on one
of the few east-west automobile
roads in Russia from Kiev to j
Southern Poland. Its capture was
announced by Marshal Joseph
Stalin exactly a week after he had
triumphantly hailed the fall of
Kiev, 85 miles eastward.
Nazis Abandon Supplies.
Later details told of fighting in
the streets before the Germans fled
during the night, leaving large
stores of ammunition, provisions,;
big guns and trucks behind. In one
town in the area the Russians said'
they found 128 trucks, 1.000 rifles
and 30 guns and mortars.
Russian guerrillas also were op
erating behind German lines in the
Zhitomir region and the communi
que said they derailed two Ger
man troop trains and three re
pair trains. About 400 Germans
<See RUSSIA, Page A-9.) i
Ellice Islands Raided
Second Time by Japs
Two Wounded, Damage
Slight at Funafuti
By the Associated Press.
PEARL HARBOR, T. H„ Nov. 13.
■—Six Japanese bombers raided
American installations on Funafuti
In the Ellice Islands group early toi*
day, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
announced.
About 30 bombs were dropped
during two runs at high altitude.
Two men were wounded and minor
material damage was inflicted.
(It was the second raid on the
Ellice Islands in two days. The
Navy Department announced
earlier today that approximately
a dozen big enemy bombers at
tacked the American base on
Nanomea Thursday night. That
raid, the Navy said, killed one
man, wounded two others and
caused minor damage.)
Text of Admiral Nimitz's commu
nique:
"Early this morning (November
13. west longitude timet six Japa
nese bombers raided our installa
tions on Funafuti in the Ellice
Islands, dropping about 30 bombs
In two high-altitude runs, causing
minor material damage.
"Casualties were two wounded.'’
Von Papen Leaves Ankara
To Give Report to Hitler
By the Associated Press.
ANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 13.—
Franz Von Papen, German Ambas
sador to Turkey, left here last night
to report to Adolf Hitler on the
Allied conferences at Moscow and
t Cairo and tonight it was said he
had indicated to confidants his be
lief that Turkey sooner or later
would grant air and naval bases to
the Allies.
This so-called belief, however, may
have been planted intentionally by
Von Papen in an effort to gain
Turkish or Allied reaction.
Von Papen conferred with Turkish
Foreign Minister Numan Menemen
cioglu before leaving. British For
eign Secretary Anthony Eden and
Menemencioglu had held a lengthy
conference at Cairo when Mr. Eden
was en route back to London from
the tri-power Moscow conference.
* I
i---4
5th Army in See-Saw Battle
With Nazis on Road to Rome
British Forces Move Into Position
/■
Along Sangro as Winter Sets In
! By the Associated Press.
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS,
Algiers, Nov. 13.—Winter de
scended on the Italian front in
earnest today with the American
5th Army locked in grim, see
saw fighting with the Germans
on the main road to Rome and
the British 8th Army still mov
ing into position against enemy
lines along the Sangro River.
The 5th Army made what head
quarters described as ‘'further local
advances against stiff resistance and
in difficult country.” occupying the
towns of Filignano and Pozzili, re
spectively, four miles north and two
miles northeast of Venafro and
about 25 miles inland from the
Tyrrhenian Coast.
The Germans in their determined
resistance have struck out at sev
eral points, and headquarters dis
closed for the first time today that
on Thursday the Germans had
beaten the 5th Army back and oc
cupied high grounds on Mount
Camino, north of the town of Mig
nano strategically guarding the
road to Rome.
The Allies had taken the heights
on Wednesday. After losing them
to the Germans in Thursday's coun
terattacks, they smashed forward
Friday and not only regained the
lost ground but won new positions.
The 8th Army was engaged prin
cipally in sending out patrols, one
of which crossed the Sangro River
and wiped out a German machine
gun nest. To the south they re
pelled a German counterattack in
brisk fighting between Allied-held
<See ITALY, 1Page A-57)
Navy Reorganization
Brings Massive Force
To Bear Against Japs
Revised Tactical System
Focuses Striking Power
On 17 New Carriers
By JOHN M. HIGHTOWER,
Associated Press Staff Writer.
The Navy now has perfected
one of the greatest tactical re
organizations in its history in
order to bring massive air-strik
ing power against Japanese sea
forces and island bases in the
Pacific.
It is completion of this reorganiza
tion, as well as the launching of
17 battle-type aircraft carriers and
hundreds of other ships in the last
two years, which enabled Admiral
Chester \V. Nimitz, Pacific fleet
chief, to say last week with full con
fidence of victory that “Our time
has come to attack."
A ranking naval leader told this
reporter yesterday that “Just about
all our ships in the Pacific, except
the submarines, have been grouped
around aircraft carriers and the
organization makes such a formid
able force that when I saw it, and
the fighting spirit of the men in it,
I ..almost felt sorry for the Japs for
the first time in my life."
Problem Is Twofold.
The initial problem of this
massed force is twofold:
To clear the Japanese out of key
island positions and, if possible, to
create an opportunity to engage
and destroy the enemy fleet. How
soon the latter stroke can be de
livered depends, of course, on when
the Japanese are willing to come
out and fight.
Reorganization of the Pacific fleet
around aircraft carriers began
tentatively before the enemy attack
on Pearl Harbor. At that time,
this country had seven carriers and
several individual carrier task
forces. The battleship remained
the backbone of the fleet, and the
tactical concept was that in any
engagement it would deliver the
knockout punch.
Temporary paralysis of the
battleships, resulting from the Pearl
Harbor bombing, automatically and
quickly forced aircraft carriers into
a fighting role of paramount im
portance.
Airmen Promoted.
Subsequently, Rear Admiral John
H. Topers, then chief of the Bureau
of Aeronautics, was assigned to Ad
miral Nimitz' staff with the rank of
vice admiral and later his succes
sor, Rear Admiral John S. McCain,
was elevated to the new post of
Deputy chief of naval operations for
air with the rank of vice admiral.
All down the line battle-tested
naval airmen have been promoted.
Successful task force leaders have
been given important new assign
ments in the reorganized fleet. The
w'hole concept of naval action has
<See HIGHTOWERTPage A-10.)
Americans Enlarge
Hold on Bougainville
In All Directions
Liberators Again Make
2,000-Mile Flight to
Bomb Soerabaja
ST the Associated Press.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AL
LIED HEADQUARTERS, Sunday,
Nov. 14.—The American beach
head at Empress Augusta Bay
on the west-central coast of
Bougainville in the Northern Sol
omons has been extended in aU
directions.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s head
quarters reported today that the
Japanese have left 300 dead in fight
ing there.
The beachhead, where the ma
rines landed on November 1, is on
the last big Solomons island barring
the eastern approaches to Rabaul.
Their advances, marines and
Army troops have occupied Piva
village, captured Japanese artillery
and supplies.
Liberator Attack Soerabaja.
The Americans previously had
held a rectangular position with
the bay on the south, mountains
on the north, the Piva river on
the east and the Laruma river on
the west.
headquarters reported today the
second roundtrip flight of more than
2.000 miles within less than a week
by Liberators for a night attack on
Soerabaja, former Dutch naval base
now held by the Japanese of Java.
Allied planes kept up the cease
less attacks on shipping in the New
Ireland-New Britain sector from
which the Japanese on Bougainville
must draw their support. A Libera
tor, in the latest t^>w, scored a bomb
hit which damaged a 7,000 ton
merchantship off KaVieng, New Ire
land.
Units of the Japanese air force at
tempted one of their infrequent
forays against Darwin, Australia.
At Darwin, which now has been
raided 64 times by enemy planes.
Spitfires intercepted the nine latest
raiders.
The offensive action announced
at Empress Augusta Bay occurred
Wednesday.
(Previous dispatches had told
of 250 Japanese being killed there
last Sunday and Monday and of
(See-PACIFIC, Page"~A~6)
3 Dead in Pennsy Wreck
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Sunday)
{&).—The St. Louisan, all
coach train of the Pennsyl
vania Railroad, was derailed
here about 2:30 a.m. today
after striking an automobile.
First reports said three per
sons, including the engineer,
were killed, and several per
sons were injured. Nine of
the 12 coaches, reported car
rying more than 500 passen
gers, left the tracks.
Flyers Describe Smashing Raid
On Japanese Ships at Rabaul
BY VERN HAUGLAND,
Associated Press War Correspondent.
ADVANCED SOUTH PACIFIC
HEADQUARTERS, Nov. 13.—The
daring of American pilots, one of
whom dropped his belly tank on a
Japanese plane when he ran out of
ammunition, and lack of organiza
tion of the enemy were credited by
naval commanders today for the
success of the latest American at
tack on Rabaul shipping and the
comnlete failure of a Japanese stab
at opr carrier force.
Carrier-based dive bombers and
torpedo bombers sank three war
ships, damaged 12 others and shot
down 24 Japanese planes Thursday
in Rabaul’s Harbor. Sixty-four of
70 Japanese Zeros, torpedo planes
and dive-bombers were shot dojn
.later when they attacked a carrier
! unit.
The Japanese planes came at the
carrier force in waves, starting at
1:55 pm.
"It was one of the most spectacu
lar battles you could imagine,” said
Comdr. Forsyth Massey of Roway
ton, Conn., a member of the staff
of the admiral commanding the
task force.
"Our planes had just taken off
again when 20 dive bombers came in
at 15,000 feet in good formation.
They started a dive from that alti
tude at 45 or 50 degrees.
"One section of them came down
together. Others picked out indi
vidual ships. They scored near
misses on two carriers and four de
(8ee Haugland, Page A-4.)
Best German Port
Hit Despite Thick
Clouds, Fighters
B» the Associated Press.
LONDON, Nov. 13.—American
Flying Fortresses and Liberator
bombers, protected by Thunder
bolt and Lightning fighters,
fought through swarms of Ger
man fighters, thick clouds and
50-below-zero temperature today
to batter the vital port and com
munications center of Bremen.
Railway yards, canals, highways,
bridges and the Germans’ best port
since the destruction of Hamburg
were blasted by the American heavy
bombers which also took a toll of 33
Nazi interceptors. The accompany
ing Thunderbolts and Lightnings ac
counted for 10 more enemy aircraft
for a total of 43.
In swamping the heavily-defended
port—using a new technique of
bombing through the clouds. Berlin
said—15 of the big bombers and nine
American fighters were reported
missing.
“Several hundred'’ German fight
ers were seen by tne bomber escorts
which made their longest and most
hazardous mission to date, it was
announced.
RAF Blasts Invasion Coast.
The importance of the raid—the
8th Air Force’s fourth on Bremen
—was stressed by an official disclo
sure that more than 1,000,000 tons
of imports from the Scandinavian
countries flow through the port each
year. In addition, Bremen is the
home of Germany’s biggest ship
building yards, particularly those
turning out submarines.
In addition to the American heavy
bomber attack, RAF fighters were
also out today, continuing their
usual daily blasting of enemy com
munications along the invasion
coastline.
The size of the attacking Ameri
can force in the 800-mile round
trip flight was not officially dis
closed.
One pilot of a supporting Light
ning fighter which helped cover the
American heavies said the Germans
threw up everything from single
engine ME-109s to JU-88 fighter
bombers shooting rocket shells.
“The ME-109s made a constant
tail attack on our group,” said Sergt.
Robert J. Nicholson, Syracuse. N. Y.,
Fortress gunner of the first groups
to return.
Vision Obscured Most of Way.
The returning crewmen said vision
was obscured during most of the
journey, and the results of the raid
were impossible to determine.
Tire blow at Bremen was the first
since October 8. when the port was
dealt a double-barreled assault.
Flying Fortresses then hit Bremen
and Vegesack by day at a cost of
30 bombers, while the RAF struck
Bremen the same night, with Han
nover as the secondary target, at
a cost of 31 bombers.
Antiaircraft fire was called mod
erate in today's raid by the Ameri
cans.
While the 8th Air Force bombers
were hitting Bremen, RAF Ty
phoons and Spitfires struck at Ger
man transport targets in Northern
France and the Low Countries and
(See RAIDSTPage A^37)
No Relatives May Meet
Gripsholm at N. Y. Pier
By the Associated Press.
Relatives and friends of the Amer
ican repatriates from the Orient
who are scheduled to arrive at
New York December 2 on the ex
change liner Gripsholm should not
expect to meet them on the pier as
that will not be permitted by the
authorities for security reasons, the
State Department announced yes
terday.
The Red Cross was designated the
sole agency at the pier for the
purpose of giving information to re
patriates, delivering mail and tele
grams, as well as supplying addres
ses, telephone numbers and other
information as to where they can
meet friends and relatives in New
York.
Relatives and friends of repat
riates have been advised, the an
nouncement said, to remain at their
hotels, homes and other points of
contact away from the pier and to
advise the Red Cross as to their
exact location and telephone num
bers in New York.
Cold Weather Expected
Through Tomorrow
The Weather Bureau predicted
today that seven-degree below nor
mal weather will continue here at
least through tomorrow.
The bureau said it. expected a
reading of 30 degrees at 7 a.m.,
today, which would be 11 degrees
lower than Saturday’s at the same
hour. It expected, however, the
temperature to rise to 47 degrees
by 3 pm., thereby equaling yester
day’s reading at that time. Both
readings are approximately seven
degrees below normal for Novem
ber, the bureau said.
k
Conference to Learn
Soviet Relief Needs
Early This Week
Moscow's Attitude on
UNRRA's Problems
Heretofore Unrevealed
By BLAIR BOLLES,
8t»r 8t»ft Corretpondent.
ATLANTIC CITY, N. J., Nov.
13.—The Russian delegation to
the United Nations Relief and
Rehabilitation Conference is ex
pected to reach Atlantic City to
morrow or Monday with a high
figure request for assistance to
put the Soviet’s war-damaged
areas back on their feet.
The conference is handicapped in
making decisions without the Rus
sian estimates, which are in the dis
patch case of Delegate Vasili Alex
aseevich Sergeev, Soviet deputy
commissar for foreign trade, who Is
on his way from Moscow. China
has presented no estimates either,
but the opportunity to provide re
lief for Axis-occupied areas in Rus
sia is expected to come sooner than
in China.
Soviet Ambassador Andrei Gromy
ko, acting in place of the absent
Commissar Sergeev, today launched
the UNRRA conference's General
Policy Committee into its work with
a brief statement urging action and
decision.
Silent on Soviet Needs.
But he left his committee col
leagues without an inkling of Rus
sia's war relief needs and attitude
toward the specific economic social
and political questions that arise
out of the UNRRA meeting.
The paramount task of the Gen
eral Policy Committee will be to
report to the conference on the
scope of UNRRA s activities, which
will have to take into consideration
the Russian needs.
The conference wants to know
not only what Russia requires for
herself but how Russia views the
whole UNRRA idea as an excursion
into international co-operation. The
conference already has a general
understanding of the position of the
American, British and Chinese gov
ernments toward the relief and re
habilitation undertaking.
Those four powers have the
strongest roles of the 44 govern
ments which compose UNRRA.
American and British spokesmen
have indicated to the conference
that decisions on matters which
will gravely affect the UNRRA work
are to be decided on a level above
UNRRA and that the Relief Admin
istration will have to fix its pol
icies within the framework of the
higher politics. However, L. B.
Pearson of the Canadian delegation
has delicately raised the question
whether UNRRA should not play a
part in the decisions of the higher
bodies, and the problem has become
an issue here.
Control over international move
ments of supplies of food, clothing,
~(See UNRRA, Page A-147)
Sports High Lights
Notre Dame and most of the
other leading football teams
stuck strictly to their regular
lines yesterday with North Car
olina, which upset Penn, 9 to 7,
being about the only outfit to
materially change the script.
Notre Dame swept Northwest
ern, 25-6; Army had trouble but
tripped Sampson Navy, 16-7;
Navy ran roughshod over Col
umbia, 61-0; Yale beat Prince
ton, 27-6; Iowa Seahawks, next
foes of the Irish, downed Camp
Grant, 29-13; Ohio State created
a mild surprise in taking a 29
26 thriller from Illinois, Duke
trounced Virginia, Dartmouth
jolted Cornell and Michigan,
Texas and Colorado College
added triumphs. In a traditional
game here Tech High nosed out
Central, 7-6. Maryland visited
Bainbridge Naval Training Sta
tion to absorb a 46-0 licking.
Details on sports pages.
Radio Programs, Pg. C-10
Complete Index, Page A-2
A
60-Cent Boost in Coal Price .
Proposed to Vinson by OP A
Recommendation Made to Offset
Pay Increase Granted to Miners
By the Associcted Pres*. |
A recommendation for increas
ing coal prices as much as 60
cents a ton to offset the pay
boost granted to miners has been j
submitted to Stabilization Direc
tor Fred M. Vinson, it was
learned last night.
The increases were proposed to
Mr. Vinson by the Office of Price
Administration and the Solid Fuels
Administration following several1
days of conferences, informed
sources said. Mr. Vinson's approval
js necessary before any- increase
can be put into effect.
Under the reported schedule, anth- i
racite would be hiked 60 cents a
ton, while the average increase for
soft coal would be about 15 cents.
The soft coal adjustments, it was
reported would range from no in
crease in some areas to 25 cents
a ton in other regions. Grades of
coal also would be taken into con
sideration under the proposed re
vision.
Operators have been reported seek
ing up to 83 cents a ton on anthracite1
and 45 cent on soft coal.
Calculation of the amount of time
miners spend traveling underground
in the various coal fields was de- j
(See COAL, :Page_A-3J j
Consumers, U. S. Save
89 Billibns by Price
Controls, OPA Claims
Major Commodities
Cost Less Now Than
During World War
By JAMES Y. NEWTON.
Compared with the World War,
present price controls will save
the public and the Government
$89,000,000,000 through January
1, Price Administrator Chester
Bowles said yesterday.
Statistics compiled by the OPA
show that war goods purchased by
the. Government by the year’s end
would have cost $67,000,000,000 more
at the relatively uncontrolled prices
for materials and services prevail- j
ing at the close of the last war. That
conclusion is based on an estimated
expenditure for war goods of $128,
000,000.000.
Consumers, OPA said, will save
$22,000,000,000 by the end . of the
year because of the generally lower
cost of living in this war.
Projecting the savings of price
control through 1944, OPA said that
by the close of that year war ma
terials savings will reach $121,000,
000,000, based on an expected Gov
ernment expenditure of $228,000,
000,000. The savings to consumers
by that time will total $54,000,000,000.
Both figures, however, are based on
the Government's ability to hold
prices at current levels.
A breakdown into commodities
indicates the current price of al
most every major item is far under
the peak cost in the World War.
The differential in prices in the
two wars is particularly striking
among the war material-; purchased
by the Government. Prices of such
materials have remained virtually
unchanged since before the Pearl
Harbor attack.
“It seems clear to me,” Mr. Bowles
said, “and it should be to every
thinking American, that we all have
a tremendous stake in price con
trol.
“If we can hold the line, if prices
of both industrial materials and
living cost items can be maintained
at present levels, we can come out
of this war with a reasonable stand
_(See PRICES, Page A-3.)
Lovett, Watson, Dodd
To Start Fight on
Pay Ban Tomorrow
Will Report for Work
As Usual, Ignoring
Congress' Ouster Move
By the Assorleted Presi.
Three Federal jobholders ac
cused by a House committee of
subversive associations will show
up for work as usual tomorrow—
and start a fight for the pay
checks Congress says they cannot
have.
The outcome probably will be a
court decision on the question: Has
Congress the right to police the
payrolls of Government depart
ments?
It is likely to wind up in a battle
between Congress and Secretary ol
Interior Ickes, who has served
notice he is ready to go to the mat
for one of his employes, Dr. Robert
Morss Lovett, executive assistant to
the Governor of the Virgin Islands.
Tomorrow Set As Deadline.
Congress tacked a rider to an
appropriations act several months
ago ordering that Dr. Lovett, Dr.
Goodwin Watson and William E.
Dodd, jr., be dropped lrom the pay
rolls by November 15 unless the
President submitted their nomina
tions to the Senate. Dr. Watson
and Dr. Dodd work for the Federal
Communications Commission.
The three were labeled “unfit”
for Federal office by the Dies Com
mittee, which questioned their poli
tical and economic philosophies.
Senator McKellar, Democrat, Ten
nesee, said a House committee was
convinced the three men “had com
munistic principles.”
In a message to Congress, the
President called the salary tfan “an
unwarranted encroachment upon
the authority of both the executive
and judicial branches.”
All three have declared they in
tend to report for work as usual
tomorrow. The General Accounting
Office probably will have to decide
whether Congress was within its
right when it legislated the three
men out of jobs. If that office and
the Court of Claims decide Congress
is right, the fight is virtually cer
tain to go into the courts for a
decision.
'L. Foster Smith7 Still Regarded
As Fine Fellow by Many Here
(Picture on Page A-22.)
Whatever else “L. Foster Smith”
may be accused of, he is still re
garded by a lot of people in these
parts as a jolly goo^jl fellow.
Sometime soon Federal Bureau of
Investigation agents are expected to
bring back from Chicago a man
whose name they gave as Arnold
Lester and who, they say, is the
Mr. Smith who so jovially duped an
appalling number of Washington
ians and visiting firemen into be
lieving he was a talent scout of
high standing, representing Warner
Brothers film studios. He was ar
raigned before a United States Com
mission in Chicago yesterday, where
he pleaded guilty to violating the
National Stolen Property Act. He
V
— M
was held under $5,000 bail, and re
moval proceedings were postponed
until Wednesday.
Lester, the FBI agents report,
was arrested in a Chicago hotel Fri
day night. According to J. Edgar
Hoover, Lester freely admitted he
cashed checks at the Statler Hotel
here when he knew they were no
good. He also told FBI agents, Mr
Hoover said, that he had falsely rep
resented himself as a talent scout
and that there was no basis to his
claim that some Hollywood stars
were on thfeir way to the Capital
to star in a Smith extravs^anze
“Capital Capers.”
Whatever his real name is, he wii:
remain dear to the hesu'ta of man)
(See TALENT SCOUT, Page A-22.)
4 Die, 10 Hurt
In Three Traffic
Accidents Here
9
Fire Engine Collides
With Car Carrying
U. S. Employes
(Pictures on Page AS.)
Four persons were killed and
10 Injured In three traffic acci
dents here yesterday.
A fire engine responding to a call
of an automobile on fire collided
with a passanger car carrying five
War Department employes at Twen
ty-third and G streets N.W., re
sulting in the death of two persons
and the injury of seven others, two
critically.
Dead in the fire engine crash
were:
Charles Henry Calaway, 63, of 17
Sherman avenue, Takoma Park, Md.,
an employe of the Office of the
Chief of Engineers, driver of the
passenger car.
Miss Velma Walsh, 20, of 3421
Fourteenth street N.W., clerk in the
Engineers Office, a passenger in the
Calaway car.
Killed as Car Hits Tree.
In a second accident, Arthur R.
Robinson, 25, of 6746 Eastern ave
nue N.W. was killed and Pvt. Doug
las Coombe, 21, of 4826 Seventh
street N.W. was injured when their
car struck a tree at Klingle road and
Porter street N.W.
The fourth fatality came with the
death in Casualty Hospital of Alfred
Headley. 21, of 1301 Savannah street
S.E., injured in a two-car collision
last night at Bladenfcurg road and
Montana avenue N.E. Two other
passengers, Miss Peggy Scott, 21, of
Alexandria, Va., and Miss Clara
Klosen, 21, of Arlington, Va., were
taken to the hospital in an unde
termined condition.
In Emergency Hospital were the
following Engineers Office employes,
passengers in the car which col
lided with the fire truck:
Miss Nell Lord, 19, of 3421 Four
teenth street N.W., fractured skull;
condition critical.
Miss Marjorie Jacob, 23, of 225
Maple avenue, Takoma Park, Md„
possible fractured pelvis and inter
nal injuries; condition critical.
Leonard R. Smith, 26, of 2036 F
street N.W., possible skull fracture
and chest injuries; condition un
determined.
Four Firemen Hurt.
Four firemen, all attached to No.
23 Engine Company, were treated at
Emergency. They were Wilbur B.
Carmalt, 1549 Thirty-fifth street
N.W., fracture of both elbows, con
dition undetermined: Francis Mar
cey, 23, Arlington, Va., contusions,
abrasions and concussion, condition
undetermined: Herbert D. Reed, 25,
of 3325 Nichols avenue S.E., con
tusions and abrasions, treated and
released, and Ambrose Petellot, Falls
Church, Va., head injury, released.
According to police investigation,
the fire truck was speeding west ori
G street, and the automobile going
north on Twenty-third street. The
impact sent the two vehicles on to
the sidewalk, with the truck rest
ing on its side and the car jammed
alongside, resting on its roof. The
car had to be jacked up to free sev
eral of the passengers pinned in the
rear seat, according to police.
Traffic on Twenty-third street, a
through thoroughfare, was rerouted
for nearly an hour as firemen col
lected equipment strewn about. Ad
ditional engines were sent to clear
the wreckage. The injured were
taken to the hospital in ambulance*
and police cars.
Miss Walsh, a native of Flat River,
Mo., came to Washington in No
vember. 1941, and had been doing
(See ACCIDENTS, Page A-3.)
Plane Hits Virginia
Farmhouse, Explodes
Army Pilot Escapes
Injury in Collision
B> ihe Associated Press.
RICHMOND, Va„ Nov. 13.—An
Army fighter pjane set fire to a
farmhouse about 10 miles southeast
of the Richmond Army Air Base
this evening when it struck the
chimney of the dwelling and ex
ploded.
Neither the pilot, who bailed out
jin his parachute when the plane
went into & dive, nor any of the
! occupants of the house were injured.
Both the plane, house and furnish
ings were virtually destroyed. The
owner of the house, Edward A.
Adkins, Roxbury, RFD 1. was stand
ing in the yard at the time of the
crash. His wife and two children
were in the house «and escaped
outside.
The plane was on a routine
training flight at the time of tha
accident, airbase officials said.
A board of AAF officers will
investigate.
Vatican Unable
To Identify Bombs
By the Associated Press.
LONDON, Nov. 13.—The Vatican
radio, In a broadcast recorded by
the Associated Press, said today that
after a careful examination experts
had been unable to come to a pos
itive conclusion as to the origin
of the four bombs that were dropped
on Vatican City November 9 by an
unidentified plane.